'99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the '99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.

Normally every morning I walk out in my PJs and start my truck, wait 30 seconds, mash the ebrake to trigger my AIC to kick on then go back inside, take my shower and get ready for work.

Well all this week its been around 40 degrees, maybe up to about 44 when I start this process.

So I get out to get in my truck and notice a teacup saucer sized puddle. the drip was from the crossmember which looked like something near the oil cooler was dripping on the crossmember and running down. This happened twice in the same day.

Today the same thing happened except I started the truck and proceeded to unload the groceries from my bed with the truck idling. That took about 10 minutes then I mashed the E brake and proceeded to get ready. When I came out there was no puddle.

I dont see anywhere else it could be coming from and the oil cooler seems to be the only logical place. Am I on the right track? looks like this is a perfect opportunity to do my coolant flush too.

Also, Im running delo 15w40 currently, first time running it. I am running it just to see what the report looks like. Because its getting cold and my truck still has the romps I was thinking about trying out some Rotella T6 this winter to see if there is any noticeable difference. My question would be how would the 5w40 synthetic handle the leak?

Normally every morning I walk out in my PJs and start my truck, wait 30 seconds, mash the ebrake to trigger my AIC to kick on then go back inside, take my shower and get ready for work.

Well all this week its been around 40 degrees, maybe up to about 44 when I start this process.

So I get out to get in my truck and notice a teacup saucer sized puddle. the drip was from the crossmember which looked like something near the oil cooler was dripping on the crossmember and running down. This happened twice in the same day.

Today the same thing happened except I started the truck and proceeded to unload the groceries from my bed with the truck idling. That took about 10 minutes then I mashed the E brake and proceeded to get ready. When I came out there was no puddle.

I dont see anywhere else it could be coming from and the oil cooler seems to be the only logical place. Am I on the right track? looks like this is a perfect opportunity to do my coolant flush too.

Also, Im running delo 15w40 currently, first time running it. I am running it just to see what the report looks like. Because its getting cold and my truck still has the romps I was thinking about trying out some Rotella T6 this winter to see if there is any noticeable difference. My question would be how would the 5w40 synthetic handle the leak?

Let me just hazard a WAG....
If it's not leaking into your coolant, it could just be some bad "O" ring seals on your oil cooler..

A set of those is about $60...unfortunately you have to do the same operation as totally removing and replacing the oil cooler to do it...
For a good mechanic it's about a 2 1/2 hr operation....
The cold weather has a tendency to bring out the worst in diesel engines..

Mine did the exact same thing last year. On one of our coldest mornings I watched it leak just after startup, then it goes away pretty quick when things warm up. I bought the o-ring rebuild kit for the cooler and decided to wait till it was warmer to fix the problem. It only leaked a couple of times last winter and never came close during the rest of the year.

So is the cause just extreme oil pressure so it pushes past the oring im guessing?

Just for giggles I plugged in and no leaks at all for the days I plugged her in.

I guess ill end up in the same boat with an extra kit. If it ends up getting bad enough I might PM one of you to see if you want to get rid of the kit that isnt being used to clear enough space for an extra CPS or something...

Now for the next question: I was thinking about maybe trying out 5w40 synthetic rotella this year to see if i get the same results as I did with my car. I run my crown vic (4.6l gasser) on Rotella T6 and she loves it. Much quieter. I think for my brother's dodge's next time ill switch from Rotella T to T6. (that 5.2 gasser had oiling problems. got much better with rotella so next time ill try synthetic)

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